Heya Luce,

Happy birthday! Didn’t just want to ignore your birthday or anything, so I did this… there should be enough Riane-ness and Kabin-ness and Sandy & Nic-ness to please ya! I’d have put some Tom & Anita in, but I’m writing this on Monday (okay, it’s Wednesday at the moment… but I started it on Monday!), and don’t know what happens in Tuesday’s ep yet. By the way, it’s weird writing a fic without getting your input… I rely on you an awful lot! Hope you like it, and hope you have/have had (not sure when you’ll be reading it, lol!) a great day J

Love ya,

Luce xxx

*~*~*

Another Day In Paradise

She stood just inside the entrance to the hospital, feeling slightly overwhelmed by all the hustle and bustle. Surely it wasn’t always this busy? She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Confidence, that’s what she needed. Well, that could be tackled another day. First things first. Where was she meant to go? Keller Ward. So… where was that?

“Excuse me,” she said nervously, approaching a young-looking, pretty doctor, wearing green scrubs. “Can you tell me where Keller Ward is, please?”

The doctor smiled. “Of course. Are you…?”

“I’m Lucy Elmer. I’m a student nurse, I’m looking for Sister Fox.”

“I’ll take you up there,” replied the doctor. “I’m Diane Lloyd, I’m a registrar here.”

“Thanks,” Luce replied awkwardly. “They did tell me where to go, but I’ve forgotten.”

“Happens to all of us,” Diane laughed, as they got into the lift. “So, is this your first job?”

“Yeah, well, it’s my first proper job, anyway. I suppose you’ve worked here for ages?”

“We’ve got to go to the third floor,” Diane informed Luce, as the lift began to move. “I’ve worked here for about a year, a bit more. I got lost on my first day too.”

“I wasn’t lost.” The lift doors opened. “Which way?”

“Left, and through those doors.” Diane pointed. “I’ll come with you, though. I need to speak to Kath.”

“Kath? Is that…?” Luce trailed off, not sure if she was meant to be asking questions.

“Sister Fox, yeah.” Diane led the way into the ward. “Okay, this is Keller ward.”

Kath appeared out of her office. “Hello,” she said, obviously waiting for Luce to introduce herself.

“Hi, I’m Lucy Elmer…” was as far as she got.

“Ah, yes, the new student nurse. Good to see you, we’re desperately understaffed today.” Kath led her to the nurses’ station. “You can put your bag here, it’ll be safe enough.”

“Thanks,” Luce replied, placing her bag under a swivel chair.

“Now, I can’t look after you today, I’m afraid, but I’ll hand you over to Sandy, she’ll do the honours,” Kath explained, calling over a girl of about twenty-two with curly brown hair. “This is Sandy, Sandy, this is Lucy, she’s a student nurse, would you show her around, please?”

“Of course,” Sandy said, smiling at Luce. “So, how old are you, Lucy?”

“Twenty… today, in fact.”

“Oh, happy birthday!” Sandy replied, readily. She led Luce towards the ward. “Okay, so this is Keller ward. Oh, that was Sister Fox, Kath, she’s really lovely, a bit strict if you don’t keep up, but as long as you try, she’s great.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“Oh, and I don’t normally work on Keller, I’m normally on Darwin, but Kelly, who normally works here, she’s away today, and they’ve got enough people on Darwin, so Chrissie – Sister Williams, that is – sent me here.” Sandy’s words were almost tumbling over one another in her eagerness to explain everything properly.

“Where’s Darwin?” Luce asked, trying to understand everything that Sandy was telling her.

“Oh, just next door.”

“Is Ric in yet?” Diane asked Kath, as Sandy and Luce left.

“I haven’t seen him, why?” Kath queried.

“I’m his registrar, I like to know where he is, and whether I’ll be working with Ric or Alex today.” Diane frowned at a broken nail on her little finger.

“Do you not want to work with Alex or something?” asked Kath, eager for gossip.

“What? Why wouldn’t I want to work with Alex? We’re friends.” Diane didn’t mention the fact that ever since Alex’s operation, she hadn’t trusted that the tremor might come back. She was terrified that she’d be operating with him and suddenly he would lose control.

“Just friends?” Kath made it quite obvious what she was insinuating.

“Yes, just friends.” Diane laughed. “C’mon Kath, next to Ric, he’s probably my best friend.”

“If you say so.” Kath’s tone suggested that she didn’t believe a word of what Diane was saying.

“Oh, Kath, please! Me and Alex, that’s like… like you and…” Diane glanced around, looking for a random man to compare. “…the Prof,” she finished, spotting Zubin.

Kath turned away to hide her face. “Yes. Right, well, I’m sure you’ve got work to do.”

Diane laughed. “You’ve gone red, Kath,” she teased.

“It’s warm in here, is why.” Kath fanned herself with a folder, trying not to betray her emotions.

“You’ve got a thing for the Prof?” Diane asked, giggling.

“He’s an attractive man. You’re like a schoolgirl, Diane. Now go and do some work!” Kath chased Diane out of the office with the folder, and settled down to paperwork, trying to forget all about the conversation.

*~*~*

“You’re late – again,” Diane accused Ric, as he hurried into AAU. She was getting tired of this. It had become a habit – he’d stroll into work late, and would spend the day trying to get out of work just so that he could gamble. She was getting annoyed at him. Annoyed and worried.

“Sorry, I…”

“Overslept? Late night at the Hadlington? Up all night gambling?” She gave a little laugh, but she knew that it was no laughing matter. “Ric, you need to get a hold of yourself, you know.”

“It’s just a bit of fun, Diane,” he replied.

“Look, we have patients to see, but how about we have a drink after work and we can talk?” Diane suggested.

“Sounds fun.” He didn’t mean it – not really. He liked the idea of having a drink with Diane, but talking… and talking about his gambling? It was just a bit of fun. That’s how it had started out, anyway. It had been a way to try and stop feeling so depressed about Diane dating Tom. But Tom had gone, and he was still doing it. And it had ended up – here. Spending all day working and all night gambling.

*~*~*

“Oh, and this is Nic,” Sandy announced, smiling at a young man.

“He’s cute,” Luce commented.

“He’s my boyfriend,” Sandy added hurriedly.

“Hi,” Nic greeted them. “Still on for tonight?” he asked Sandy, shyly.

“Of course!” she replied, eagerly.

“What are you doing tonight?” Luce queried.

“Oh, just going out for a drink,” Sandy said. “Do you want to come along?” she added, looking at Nic for his permission. He nodded, smiling at Luce. “It’d be fun.”

Luce shrugged. “Sure. Where?”

“There’s this little bar across the way,” Nic replied. “We go there a lot.”

“There’s a load of us going,” Sandy elaborated. “Me, Nic, Jess, Lisa… it’d be a great chance for you to meet everyone.”

“Sounds like fun,” Luce agreed.

*~*~*

“Prof?” Kath called out to Zubin. He turned around.

“Yes?”

“Mrs Lester in bed five is complaining of pain.” Kath gestured towards bed five.

“Right, I’ll go and see to her. Have you got her notes?” Zubin queried, smiling at Kath. If he was being honest, he had a bit of a soft spot for her. She was kind and gentle, and always had time to listen. And she’d helped him through a tough time. If it hadn’t been for her, he would probably have been in prison now.

“They’re here,” Kath replied, handing them over. She followed Zubin over to the bed.

“So, what’s the matter?” he asked the patient.

“Just a bit of pain, it’s nothing, really.” She smiled weakly, but her husband seemed to have different ideas.

“She shouldn’t be in pain. Can’t you give her something?”

Zubin shook his head regretfully. “I’m sorry. She’s due to be prepped for theatre in twenty minutes, and she can’t have anything until then.”

“But she’s in pain!”

“No, really and truly, I’m okay. Honestly.” Kath smiled at the young woman as she shook her head bravely. She could see a lot of herself in this young girl – the determination in her eyes, the ability to block away the pain, the insistence that she was strong enough to cope. And, as she always was, she was shocked. It dazed her, when she thought back over her past, to think that she had been the one who had put up with all the abuse. And she was stunned that this woman could cope with the pain. “This operation’s going to make me better anyway, I can handle a bit of pain before it.”

Zubin was checking the woman over, and, as he and Kath walked away, he spoke to her. “I’m not surprised she’s in pain. That cyst is nearly twice as big as it was last week.”

“She’s being very brave,” Kath commented.

“She is.” Zubin smiled. “Women seem to be brave.”

Kath laughed. “Well, on behalf of my gender, thank you.” 

*~*~*

Sandy pointed down a corridor. “Down there are the toilets and the canteen. And that’s pretty much it.”

Luce nodded. “Okay.” She smiled at Sandy. “Thanks for showing me around.”

Sandy laughed. “Oh, I was new not so long ago. I remember how terrifying it is!” She grinned mischievously. “Besides, I didn’t have a choice. Kath asked me to do it.”

Luce giggled. “Okay, so I’ll thank her.”

*~*~*

“How’d it go?” Kath asked, as Zubin walked through the ward, after returning from theatre.

He shrugged. “Dire. She started bleeding, couldn’t stem it, then her heart stopped. By the time we got her back, it was too late.”

“Did she…?” Kath couldn’t quite make herself ask if the vivacious woman from before had died.

Zubin shook his head. “No. But she’s in ITU, and she was deprived of oxygen, and we honestly don’t know if she’ll wake up.”

“Oh my… and she was so young, she was so lively,” Kath whispered, taken aback.

Zubin looked at her, concernedly. “Are you alright?”

“Only rather shocked. It was a routine op, wasn’t it?”

“That’s what makes it worse,” Zubin replied. “She was thirty-two, she should have come out of this perfectly well, ready to get back on track with her career, or start a family, or do umpteen other things. Not to spend the rest of her life in a coma, or to come out of it brain-damaged, paralysed, or God knows what else.” He smiled at her. “I mean, what were you doing when you were thirty-two?”

Kath thought. “I… I’d had my kids, Danny was about seven, Sammie would have been five, and Loren would have been nearly two. I suppose I’d have been at home all day with them. I wasn’t out having fun. I was spending all my time with Simon and the children.”

Zubin looked stricken. “I’m sorry, I forgot about… I’m sorry.”

Kath patted his arm. “Don’t worry about it. Forget it.” Inside of her, she wished that she could forget it. That she could forget what had happened to her, that she didn’t have to have people apologising at the mere mention of her past. And she felt oddly guilty – what had happened to that patient had been what she, at that age, had often wished to happen to her. That she could fall asleep. And never wake up.

“I really am sorry,” Zubin repeated, noticing that Kath seemed to be on the verge of tears. “Come on.” He steered her into her office.

“I’m sorry that you have to be sorry.” Kath smiled slightly at the sound of that statement.

“So am I,” Zubin agreed. He put an arm around her. “Are you alright?”

She smiled. “Yeah. If you must know, today’s my wedding anniversary. It’s not an easy day. Most of the time I’m alright.”

“I didn’t know.” He looked awkward. Kath was such a lovely person; she shouldn’t be going through this. No one should, but especially not Kath. He wanted desperately to make it easier for her. He looked at her gently. “Let me take you out for a drink or something, after work. Take your mind off things.”

She looked up at him. “You can’t want to be bothered with me, Zubin.”

He was surprised – she’d never called him Zubin before. It had always been “Prof”, “Professor”, “Professor Khan”… never Zubin. “I can and I do. Come on, Kath.”

She smiled up at him. “Alright then. That sounds like fun. I don’t want to be alone tonight anyway.”

He leant down to kiss her hair, but she tilted her head up gently. He paused, but she gave him a slight, shy smile. He leant down and kissed her tenderly.

*~*~*

“Late again,” Diane teased, as Ric wandered into the bar.

“I know, but this isn’t my fault. Jess stopped me to talk.” He sat down and ordered a drink. “Do you want anything?”

Diane held up her nearly full wine glass. “Got one. But thanks.” She waited until he’d taken a sip of his drink. “We need to talk.”

“As I recall, the last time you told me that, I could barely see you for dust,” Ric joked.

“Yeah. Anyway,” she tried to brush off his comment. “Ric, you have a problem. You know that, right?”

“I don’t have a problem, Diane.” He glanced at his hands.

“Ric, you’ve been gambling every day for nearly two months now. You’ve spent almost all of your own money, you owe me money, you owe Kath money, you owe the Prof money…”

“Diane, I can pay it back.” He found his wallet. “How much do I owe you?”

“Eighty pounds. That’s not the point, Ric. You can pay us back today. What about tomorrow, when you’ve not had a good day? Or the day after? How long is this going to go on for?” she demanded, feeling tears stinging in her eyes. She cared about him so much, loved him even, he was her best friend, an important part of her life, past and present, and it was so hard for her to see him doing this to himself. He was throwing his life away.

“It’s none of your business.”

“I care about you, Ric.” There was a genuine, wistful note in her voice, that Ric heard and it made him feel sorry that he had to make her feel like that. He didn’t want to make Diane unhappy, he cared about her, he loved her. But the next instant, the note was gone, as she stood up suddenly. “But if you don’t want any help, then I don’t care.” She pushed away the money that he held out to her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Wait… Diane, wait…” But she had already left. He sank back into his seat, sighing. “I love you,” he added, feebly.

“Tell her,” said a familiar voice. Ric turned around, to see the new nurse.

“Lucy. Were you listening in or something?”

Luce didn’t quite meet his eyes. Maybe she had been, but that wasn’t the important issue, not at the moment. “It doesn’t matter. Tell her, Mr Griffin. You might be surprised at what she’d say.”

“I can imagine what she’d say.” In his mind, Ric had heard one phrase of Diane’s over and over again. Things change, Ric. It had haunted him, almost.

“She might say that she feels the same.” Luce sat down. “Go tell her you love her, and ask for her help.”

“I don’t need help,” he replied, automatically.

“You do. Even I can see that.” She tilted her head slightly to look at him. “You need help. You can get through it though. Diane will help you.”

Ric nodded, and almost before he knew what he’d done, he had run after Diane. Luce waved to Sandy and Nic. “Come and sit with me… please! I’m all alone.” Laughing, they joined her.

“Diane! Diane, wait!” Ric rushed up to Diane’s car. She was fumbling in her bag for her keys, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Why are you crying?”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s none of your business,” she shot at him, as she turned the key in the door and got in. He placed a hand on the door, stopping her from shutting it. “Ric, you don’t want my help, just let me go home, yeah?”

“I do want your help.” It cost him so much to say it, but he knew that if he didn’t, then he would lose Diane forever. And he couldn’t bear for that to happen a second time. He’d been given another chance – he had to take it.

She let her hand fall from the steering wheel. “What?”

“I need help. You were right.” He crouched down so that he was level with her. “I need help… and I need you, Diane.”

“So you’ll let me help you?” She placed a hand on his arm gently, feeling the tears drying on her cheeks.

“If you want to help me.” He took her hand in his.

“Get in the car then,” she said gently. “Come back to mine and we’ll talk. Properly this time.”

Twenty minutes later, Luce walked outside, the cold night air hitting her. The silence of the night was pleasant, after the noise of the bar. As she passed Diane’s car, she smiled as she saw the two figures clinging together. As she climbed into her car, she glanced up at the moon. One day down, the rest of her life to go. It felt good.

*~*~*

Oh think twice, it's another day for
You and me in paradise
Oh think twice, it's just another day for you,

You and me in paradise

—Another Day In Paradise, Phil Collins